


Lovely

by Lady_Merlin_Dreams



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: F/F, Friends to Lovers, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-10-08
Updated: 2020-10-18
Packaged: 2021-03-08 02:48:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,273
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26898460
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lady_Merlin_Dreams/pseuds/Lady_Merlin_Dreams
Summary: This fic is 100% self indulgent. I just love Luna lovegood
Relationships: Luna Lovegood/Reader
Kudos: 18





	1. Chapter 1: a start

"Excuse me, is this-"

The train made a sharp turn as she stumbled over her words and feet. Hanging onto the compartment door, she steadied herself, blushing. Hair hanging in front of her face, she started to curse herself, not literally. But what else would you expect from an eleven year old girl starting at Hogwarts. We were all socially awkward at the time. If only she left home a little earlier. If only she didn't pack so last minute. If only she had the courage to just walk into a compartment and make friends like everybody else. If only...

"Hi there."

A dreamy voice came from behind the half opened compartment door and pierced her thoughts like a soap bubble. Suddenly aware of her appearance, she tucked her hair behind her ear and straightened up. Still looking for words, she opened the door fully to see a blonde girl about her age tuck a magazine away. 

"Well, I don't mean to be rude, but I hope you're not going to stand there all day. It would be much nicer if you were to sit down with me." The girl smiled warmly. "I'm Luna. What's your name?"

The words got stuck in her throat just a little before, with eyes like a deer in the headlights, she finally spit them out. 

“I’m Merlin.” She sputtered, eyes breaking away from the light blue gaze across the compartment. She shuffled to the seat across from her and sat down. The cushions felt soft and massive. She imagined it as a big mouth that could swallow her whole and hide her from the world if things got too embarrassing. It didn’t help her feel less uneasy. 

All the while, Luna seemed to be unaware of the tension in the room. She looked outside for a brief moment before turning her gaze back to the room, unfocused, as if she could see static in the air. 

“Merlin...” She said it softly as if tasting the words. “That’s a lovely name, Merlin.” She looked up definitively. 

“well...” Merlin let the words trail away as if to copy Luna’s introspection. For reasons unknown to her, the aloofness of the other girl made her feel a little more comfortable, rather than not. 

“Luna is lovely, too.” She finished.

Luna chuckled a thank you.

“I mean!” Merlin turned red again. “I mean your name, obviously.” 

“Obviously” Luna echoed. “Obviously, you’re rather nice, too.” Her hands toyed with the bookmark that stuck out of the pages of the magazine she was holding. 

“And I think it’s rather nice that you stumbled into this compartment.” She finished with another one of her kind smiles. She seemed genuine.

“I- well- The other ones seemed to be full, so, well, I don’t mean that in a bad way, obviously_”

“Obviously”

“yeah obviously... this one just seemed rather...”

“Lovely”

“Right”

Luna giggled a little. It felt disarming and instead of mentally slapping herself across the face, Merlin laughed with her. However hard she tried, she somehow could not say a wrong thing with this girl. The air between them suddenly felt breathable again. She had found a compartment for the day. A quiet one even, how lucky. And the girl she shared it with wasn't even that bad. Maybe it was a good start after all.


	2. Chapter 2

The wind blew her hair away from her face. She tasted the salt on the breeze. Looking down from the observation deck into the water, she held her heart in her throat. It weighed heavy and for a moment she was afraid she could never speak again, but there was no one around to worry about that problem for now. It seemed that the sea was as chaotic and deep as the place where her mind had been these last couple of weeks. Ever since she got her Hogwarts acceptance letter her mind has been drowning in questions. So she was a witch. It felt strange to tell that to herself. All of her life she did not even think about the possibility of magic; she rather pretended to be a princess as a kid. But it seemed real enough now, on the boat to Britain. Her mum had confessed a secret that she had been keeping all her life: she was a witch. And now Merlin is one, too. 

Apparently her mother was a muggleborn. Muggle is a strange word for a normal person, she got told. Or rather, a person without magic. But when her mother got her letter, her family was not very accepting. Once she turned eighteen, her mother got on the boat to the mainland, met a dashing young dutch guy and decided to settle into a muggle lifestyle, forever burying her secret. But now Merlin has her mothers ‘gift’ and it was time to follow in her footsteps and attend Hogwarts School of witchcraft and wizardry. She took a deep breath, turned around and went back inside to spend the rest of the journey with her mother. 

“So you’re not from around here, huh?” Luna asked thoughtfully.

“yeah,” Merlin laughed a little uncomfortably, “I bet you’d never guessed.”

“Well that must have been quite a shocker when you found out! Are there not any magical schools where you’re from?”

“Sadly, no. It was either this or Beauxbatons, and my French is rather rusty.” the girls laughed. “I’m going to miss it, though.”

“What?” Luna looked away from the window and back to the girl in front of her.

“My home...” The air in between them got still yet loaded. “I’ve never been this far away, alone.” Merlin swallowed and looked at the carpet underneath them. 

Luna stood up and plopped down beside her. Merlin looked up into two smiling eyes. “What is it?”

“Home might be far away now, but Hogwarts will soon enough be your second home. I’ll make sure of it.” Luna winked and put her hand on Merlin's knee. “And I think you need a housewarming gift!” She scrambled around in her bag at her feet and pulled out a colourful felt strip. “There you go!”

“For me?” Merlin trailed off, eyeing the thing the girl had dropped in her hand without recognition. 

“For you!” Luna looked excited. The thing she had gifted Merlin seemed to be a bookmarker. It was bright orange and blue felt and it had the name Luna Lovegood embroidered into it, with a heart at the end. She pressed it softly into Merlin’s palm and held her now closed fist. 

“Thank you.” Merlin looked up. The moment seemed ordinary, yet special, at the same time. Such a simple gesture seemed to mean so much. The girl she met only hours ago seemed so nice and genuine. 

“And besides,” Luna let go of her hand and it dropped into her lap. The moment was gone. “Besides, I have another one right there.” She pointed to the magazine that she left on the seat across from them. 

“Well thank you very much, it’s very pretty. I will put it to good use.” They both smiled quietly. 

Merlin rummaged through her bag and pulled out her journal. “I brought this with me from home. It’s a journal I started for this year, so I could bring something familiar with me.” She smiled a little embarrassedly. 

“That’s nice.” 

“ Yes, I think so, too. How about I make an entry right now. My first train ride to Hogwarts.” Merlin smiled sheepishly while she held her hand in front of them as if the title would appear out of thin air. 

“You can write your name in it.” 

“That would be lovely.”


End file.
